Mobile communications nodes such as satellite navigation devices, or Personal Navigation Devices, in vehicles, personal digital assistants carried by pedestrians and mobile telephones carried by human users who are traveling typically need to store content. For example, in the case of satellite navigation devices the content may be maps, road construction locations, safety camera locations, locations of points of interest, locations of landmarks and similar information. Depending on the type of mobile communication node and the applications involved the particular content will vary.
Typically, the content needed by such mobile communications nodes needs to be updated and distributed to the nodes themselves. One option is to arrange the mobile communications nodes to download the content from network infrastructure each time it is required rather than storing the content locally at the mobile communications node. However, such on-demand systems incur high communication costs.
Another option is to store content locally at a mobile communications device. This is practical where the mobile device has sufficient memory resources. However, there is a need to continually update the information to keep it fresh and also a need to disseminate new content to many such mobile communications devices in a simple, reliable, fast and cost effective manner which is user-friendly.
Satellite navigation devices for use in motor vehicles are known which provide BlueTooth (trade mark) connectivity to enable the device to connect to a mobile telephone also in the vehicle. In this way the satellite navigation device is able to fetch content from an Internet data center by connecting to the Internet using the data services of the cellular network of the mobile telephone. However, this approach relies on the cellular telephone network for content distribution. Different organizations control access to the cellular network infrastructure so that negotiation with those different organizations is required for access. In addition, different cellular technologies are used in different regions so that hardware customization of the mobile device may be required for use in those different regions. Different charging plans are also likely to be in place in the different geographical regions of the network so that end users may easily find they have inadvertently run up larger bills than expected.
Satellite navigation devices for use in motor vehicles are also known which receive content broadcast from network infrastructure via FM radio channels or Satellite based distribution. This approach works in geographical regions where coverage is available, although such coverage is typically limited. FM-based solutions provide low bit rates and are limited to cities and areas where licenses can be obtained and the infrastructure installed. Satellite based solutions can support much higher bit-rates but require costly infrastructure investment.
The embodiments described below are not limited to implementations which solve any or all of the disadvantages of known content discovery and transfer processes between mobile communications nodes.